Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3184: Chapter 3185: Invention Mouse

”Invention Mouse?” Angel repeated subconsciously after hearing the term that felt quite out of place.

Luigi noticed Angel coming out of the compartment and thought Angel was asking about the ”Invention Mouse,” so he eagerly started explaining.

”An Invention Mouse is a hamster that knows how to invent. Two years ago...”

While Luigi was speaking, Pirush beside him showed an expression of disdain and instinctively wanted to argue with Luigi.

However, before Pirush could speak, Luigi continued: ”Two years ago, I heard this rumor at Baba Ragon’s place. At that time, Baba Ragon sneered, thinking it was just a rumor—how could a hamster know how to invent? Coincidentally, Pika Sage was also there, and he checked the research database and found there actually was a research report on an Invention Mouse, along with its picture... That’s right, this one, chubby, with a pair of black bean-like eyes.”

Pirush’s mouth, which was ready to refute Luigi, closed awkwardly. Although he wasn’t sure if Luigi’s words were true or false, figures like Baba Ragon and Pika Sage were completely beyond his reach.

Can’t afford to offend them, just go with the flow.

Luigi continued to chatter: ”At the time, Baba Ragon was discussing biological nerves with Pika Sage, and I was playing the piano on the side, not really paying attention to their conversation. So when I saw this hamster earlier, I didn’t immediately realize, just felt it looked familiar.”

Angel: ”Is it that you weren’t interested in their conversation, or you couldn’t understand?”

Luigi: ”...” Would it kill you to not expose me?

Luigi glared at Angel displeased and said, ”Anyway, this hamster is exactly like the Invention Mouse in the research report that Pika Sage found, it’s definitely it.”

Angel had never paid attention to this hamster before, but hearing Luigi, he curiously looked over.

Chubby, with creamy white fur mixed with some gray and yellow hair, it looked a bit like... Jon.

It’s not Jon himself, but the avatar Jon used in the tree group before. After the avatar function went live, the first avatar Jon changed to was a ”terrified little hamster accidentally entering the human world.”

According to Jon, this was a popular emoticon on Earth.

Although Jon later changed his avatar, Angel still remembered the picture.

And the breed of that hamster, Jon called it ”Golden Silk Bear.” The hamster in front of them looked very similar to the Golden Silk Bear, only fatter, with thinner and longer hands.

Since the hamster was kept in the wheel, isolated from external sounds, it could only see people observing it and didn’t know what was happening, its expression slightly scared.

If it raised its head instead of burying it under, the resemblance to Jon’s previous avatar picture would be over seventy percent.

”Doesn’t seem particularly intelligent.” Angel, after examining closely, said while stroking his chin.

Luigi: ”Its eyes are as small as rice grains, without any variations. Can you see wisdom in rice grains?”

Angel: ”You’re probably right, but if it’s truly the Invention Mouse you’re talking about, it shouldn’t have ended up here laboring to pull gears.”

Luigi thought for a moment and agreed—that news about the Invention Mouse had reached Baba Ragon, indicating its fame was quite notable. There were even research papers specifically on the Invention Mouse, it shouldn’t have fallen to this.

Yet, based on looks alone, it really resembles the picture a lot.

Luigi couldn’t quite understand, so he turned his gaze to Pirush cowering in the corner.

Upon seeing the Pirush boss, Luigi was taken aback.

He remembered that this Pirush was quite spirited before, continuously swinging a whip, urging the hamster in the wheel; how did he end up squatting in the corner now?

Luigi walked beside Pirush and reached out to grab his collar.

”Huh? Ah!” Pirush, originally turned away from the crowd, wasn’t prepared and was pulled into the air, limbs flailing, instinctively shouting, ”Let me go, you lower races!”

”You are provoking the great Pirush and will face severe punishment...”

Before finishing his sentence, the next second, Pirush landed steadily on the ground. He paused for a moment, looked up, and found the white-toothed man who claimed to have connections with Baba Ragon and Pika Sage standing right in front of him.

”Hey, hey, who are you calling a lower race? What severe punishment will we face? Say it?” Luigi squinted his eyes, approaching Pirush.

Pirush shivered, recalling the harsh words he had uttered in the air earlier.

Does this mean he has offended this white-toothed man?

Since he had offended him, perhaps there wasn’t much need to fear... right?

He hesitated, his gaze shifting from indecision to malice... But in the end, his gaze turned to cringing, and he knelt down, prostrating on the ground: ”I was speaking nonsense earlier, please forgive my insolence.”

He raised his head, eyes brimming with tears.

Angel observed this familiar scene, rubbed his aching temples—is Pirush always this shameless?

Luigi seemed quite accepting, probably because he was experienced.

”Alright, get up quickly.” Luigi frowned in impatience, muttering softly: ”It’s just like Doyi and Labby.”

The kneeling Pirush heard the names Doyi and Labby and appeared even more humiliated. Pika Sage and Baba Ragon were still too distant for him, but he had exchanged a few words with city defense team members like Doyi and Labby. However, even so, his status couldn’t compare to them.

And Luigi could casually mention Doyi and Labby, suggesting that he indeed was a big figure he couldn’t afford to provoke.

Indeed, recognizing one’s circumstances is the way to survive!

”You heard us talking earlier, right?” Luigi stood up and walked again to the hamster wheel: ”You tell me, is this hamster really the widely rumored Invention Mouse?”

Pirush the merchant stood up, dusting off nonexistent dirt from his clothes: ”It is not an Invention Mouse, just an ordinary hamster.”

”Really not? Did I remember it wrong?” Luigi frowned.

Pirush: ”Esteemed guest, you did not remember wrong. Although it is not the Invention Mouse, it is somewhat related to it.”

Pirush succinctly explained the origin of this hamster.

It was not the rumored Invention Mouse, but rather a descendant of the Invention Mouse.

Speaking of which, it was related to the research paper Luigi mentioned earlier about the Invention Mouse. To thoroughly understand why this hamster was so smart, its owner began research. Naturally, this also included research on the parent-offspring lineage.

The Invention Mouse was a female mouse and gave birth to many descendants during the study.

Most of the descendants, and even their successive generations, were very intelligent and could learn Pirush language, Universal Language. Although their performance wasn’t as stunning as the Invention Mouse, they were quite good.

But there were also some very foolish descendants, most of whom were abandoned or sold.

This young mouse was a descendant of the Invention Mouse, but the foolish kind. It couldn’t speak, had no learning motivation, and spent its time either slacking off or hoarding food.

Eventually, it was transferred multiple times, sold from Innercity to Outercity, finally ending up in the hands of Pirush the merchant.

By this point, Pirush was visibly distraught, lamenting he had been swindled by damned cheats.

He initially thought that he had bought the clever descendant of the Invention Mouse, but who knew this little mouse was just a lazy bum? He tried to resell it but failed; even to make it run on a wheel required the use of a whip.

He lost a big sum of Crystalline because of this.

”How big a sum?” Luigi asked curiously.

Pirush hesitated for a moment: ”Two Crystalline.”

Luigi sneered, too lazy to reply. Cheap doesn’t necessarily mean bad, but in this case, something cheap definitely has a catch.

Knowing that the Invention Mouse is popular in the inner city, yet you bought one for only two Crystalline? Are you sure you don’t want to find the problem in yourself?

Pirush the merchant clearly didn’t understand the meaning of Luigi’s sneer and even naively said, ”If the customer likes this hamster, I can sell it to you at half price for just one Crystalline. It’s absolutely worth it for one Crystalline...”

Pirush the merchant babbled on for ages, and Luigi just responded simply, ”Do you even believe these words yourself?”

Ignoring Pirush’s awkward expression, Luigi turned to Angel: ”Thought I had come across an Invention Mouse, turns out it’s a fake. By the way, how’s your negotiation going?”

Angel: ”It’s all settled.”

No need for Angel to explain further; Luigi had already received synchronized information from Laplace.

Leaving the Mirror Domain with just one person could get him a good batch of goods, and he even got his score for free, so he was naturally very satisfied.

To them, taking someone out is as easy as pie.

Luigi cheerfully handed the score to Angel, and after Angel memorized it, he still needed to have it appraised by Broye, so it made sense to give it to Angel.

While handing over the score, Luigi noticed Angel’s gaze lingering on the hamster in the wheel.

”What, you’re interested in that hamster?” It was the same question Angel had asked Luigi earlier, but now Luigi was asking Angel.

Angel: ”I’m interested in the Invention Mouse, but I’ve no interest in lazy hamsters.”

”Then why are you staring at it?” Luigi asked, puzzled.

Angel didn’t answer, but instead turned to Pirush the merchant: ”Can you open the wheel cover so I can have a closer look at this hamster?”

Pirush the merchant was still disappointed from failing to sell the hamster, but his eyes lit up at Angel’s words: ”Of course!”

Pirush quickly opened the wheel cover.

As soon as the cover was removed, the hamster inside immediately collapsed on the wheel, panting heavily, looking utterly exhausted.

”Feel free to take a look, customer.”

Angel reached out his hand to stroke the hamster inside the wheel.

Hmm... the texture is nice, like soft jelly.

However, under Hyper Perception, the hamster’s emotions were blank, and even using Nightmare Illusion perception, he could only detect its weak consciousness drooling over delicacies and pretty mice.

Angel silently withdrew his hand.

His original intention was to see if he could pick up a bargain... In many of the junk genre opening novels on the Holographic Tablet, the siblings are all geniuses, but the ones who truly rise are those who stand out.

Being lazy might also count as standing out, right? So, with a try-it-and-see attitude, Angel wanted to see if this was a hidden genius mouse.

The facts told him it wasn’t.

This was truly a useless mouse.

His plan to pick up a bargain failed miserably, and Luigi, standing beside him, asked curiously: ”Is there something special about this hamster?”

Angel didn’t know how to answer, so he simply gave Luigi a mysterious smile.

Then he withdrew his hand.

”Do you want it? Only two Crystalline.” Pirush the merchant thought Angel had taken a liking to the hamster because of his smile, and immediately raised the price on the spot.

Angel: ”Thanks, but no, not for now.”

Angel deliberately used the term ”for now” to indicate that there might be a follow-up, so he didn’t seem too foolish.

But in reality, Angel had no plans to buy this hamster.

He gave Luigi a look, preparing to bid farewell to Pirush’s shop.

After Angel and company left, a human claiming to be a parrot put on a hood and chased after them.

”Are you interested in that hamster?” the parrot asked as it caught up.

Angel pulled a smile: ”What? Do you have something to say?”

The parrot looked back at the Pirush shop, making sure Pirush didn’t come out, and then leaned in to whisper: ”I came to Crystal City with the Pirush caravan. I saw several Pirush merchants who brought many similar hamsters. If you’re not satisfied with that hamster, you can check with other Pirush merchants.”

The parrot came out just to say this.

He knew the previous hamster was too useless, but he saw many good hamsters with other Pirush merchants and specifically came to remind Angel.

Angel nodded to the parrot, expressing his gratitude.

They chatted a bit about leaving, and Angel asked if the parrot wanted to come with them when they left Crystal City, so they could bring him along.

However, the parrot thought for a moment and still declined.

The gathering would continue for a while, and he also planned to buy some specialties at the gathering which he could later resell in the Southern Domain as start-up capital.

So, he needed some time.

And with the contract in place, he wasn’t worried about Angel and the others backing out.

After saying goodbye, Angel and company left the nearby street.

When there were fewer people around, Luigi couldn’t hold it anymore, and asked again: ”You still haven’t answered me, does that hamster have a secret?”

Angel shrugged: ”Whether it has a secret or not, it’s hard to say. If you’re really curious, why not buy that hamster yourself and explore?”

Luigi skeptically examined Angel, but ultimately did not turn back to buy the hamster, even though it only cost one Crystalline.